MIV Therapeutics develops ultra-thin Hap-coated vascular stents, will present at medical conference

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, Jan. 31 - MIV Therapeutics, Inc. announced Tuesday some of the company's latest technology achievements, including its next generation of composite coatings for stents and its ultra-thin film coatings for stents.

The company's findings will be presented in April at the annual international meeting of the Society of Biomaterials in Pittsburgh, according to a company news release.

MIV Therapeutics said it is a leader in the research and development of a novel organic material called Hydroxyapatite (Hap), which is designed to provide medically needed advantages over the current generation of polymer coatings and materials used in the growing, multibillion-dollar worldwide marketplace for vascular stents and other medical products.

The latest Hap composite-coating achievement combines the most desirable properties of bioceramics with those of biopolymers to create greater durability, strength and elasticity, company officials said.

The composite would be particularly suitable for coating vascular stents and other devices that are often exposed to significant stresses or possible deformation during implantation or other surgical procedures, officials said.

The company said it also has advanced the processing and evaluation of Hydroxyapatite ultra-thin film coatings for coronary stents.

The new ultra-thin film (less than 0.5 micrometer) Hap coating is the result of a successful series of recent porcine tests in which pigs were implanted with ultra-thin Hap coatings in both biologically inert or "passive" form and also an advanced drug-eluting form, officials said.

"MIV has been exploring the extraordinary potential of Hap for the last several years and among its achievements has developed an ultra-thin coating for coronary stents that could provide crucial medical advantages," Arc Rajtar, chief technology officer, said in the release. "In a recently completed series of porcine tests, these advantages were further reinforced, as the test data demonstrate that the coatings not only have excellent biocompatibility, but are also non-toxic, and do not induce allergic or inflammatory reactions."

Based in Vancouver, B.C., MIV Therapeutics is developing a next-generation line of advanced biocompatible coatings for passive and drug-eluting applications on cardiovascular stents and a broad range of other implantable medical devices.

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